ou making, Father?"

Hawk-Eye stopped chopping. "It's a secret," he said. "If I tell you,
you'll tell."

"No, we won't. Anyway, there's no one to tell but Mother," said
Firefly.

"She's just the one I want to keep it from," said Hawk-Eye. "It's a
surprise."

"Oh, well, if it is a surprise, of course we won't tell," said Firetop.

"Do you know what it is, or is it a surprise to you too?" asked Firefly.

"Maybe it is," said Hawk-Eye. "I'm not sure yet. When I get the inside
of this log all cut out, I'm going to see if it will float without
rolling over. Maybe I can get in it and make it go where I want it to.
If I can, then all sorts of things may happen, but you must _not_ tell
Mother."

"Why?" asked Firefly. "Wouldn't she let you play with it?"

"Maybe not," said Hawk-Eye.

"You'd better be careful," said Firefly, shaking her head, "or you know
what will happen!"

Hawk-Eye laughed and went on chopping. Every day after that the Twins
followed their father to the little cove and watched him work. Every
evening they nearly burst trying not to tell. One day when they went
down to the cove, they found their father taking out the last chips from
the inside of the log.

"When the tide comes in, it backs up into the stream," said Hawk-Eye,
"and the next time it does it, I'm going to push the log into the water
and then out into the bay. If it floats right side up, I am going for a
ride."

"How will you push it?" asked Firetop. "Are you going to let your legs
hang over and hitch yourself along that way?"

"I shan't need any turtles to bite me to make me go anyway," said
Hawk-Eye. "I'm going to push it with a pole."

The pole was already in the log. The tide began to flow in. As soon as
the water was deep enough Hawk-Eye pushed the log into the water. It
floated, of course. Hawk-Eye waded along beside it into deeper water.
Then he undertook to get aboard, but he put his weight too much on one
side. It rolled over, and he rolled with it, and went splash on his
stomach right into the water! Firetop and Firefly danced on the beach
with glee.

Hawk-Eye got up all dripping wet and tried again. This time he stepped
into the middle of the boat. He got safely in, but it was still very
tippy, so he put sand in the bottom of it and made it heavier. Then he
tried again.

It was a proud moment when at last he took his pole and pushed off.

"I'm going to keep close to shore and go around the point